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Society. October ^0, 18 '50, 

'By "Heu-Wn Smitk. 




Glass __tAH 
Book. 



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AFRICA 



GIVEN TO CHRIST: 



A ^^3J11®M 



PEKArHEI) BKfi.. • THE 



VERMONT COLONIZATIOiV SOCIETY, 



MONTPJEl.IER, OCT. 20, 1830. 



^^- 



BY REUBEN SMITH, 

Paitor of Ih.^ Calvinistic Congregational Church, Burlington, Vl 



PUBLISHED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 



BURLINGTOV: 

CIIAUNCK Y GOOIIR irif . 

183 0. 



University Press. 

C. aOODRICH, rniNTER- 



SERMON 



- Psalm, LXVIII. 31. 

\o Princes shall come out of Egypt ; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. 

Prophecy has been said to be either historical or discur- 
sive. The first relates to predictions, which have a regular 
historical connection, like those ci Daniel and the author of 
the Apocalypse — the other, is where the prophet does not 
follow a chronological order, but breaks out in rhapsodies, as 
the spirit of God upon him, or the kindred glories of his 
theme more immediately suggest. 

If this distinction be a just one, it is evident that the prophe- 
cy chosen for our text, is of the latter description. The 
Psalmist is expatiating in one of his most elevated strains, on 
the character of Jehovah and his mighty works on the behalf 
of Messiah's kingdom — and he throws himself out^ to use the 
expression of another, upon some of the most remarkable 
glories of that kingdom in the last days. Far down the vista 
of time, a captivating object rises upon his vision : the con- 
necting links in the chain of events are of no consequence, 
and time, space and circumstances are apparently forgotten, 
while he exclaims — "Princes shall come out of Egypt : — Ethi- 
opia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God !" 

Where then is that Ethiopia^ the vision of which so capti- 
vated the prophet .-' and what is the amount of the prediction 
on its behalf, which is here contained } 

That tract of country on the west of the Red Sea, to which 
the name of Ethiopia^ and more generally, of Abysinia^ is 
now given, cannot, we think, be the whole region intended 
by the prediction. It seems of too little extent and import- 
tance : and we are sure, moreover, that this name was given 
to more than one country, according to the language of in- 
spiration. 



For determining what country or people are intended by 
the prediction of our text, therefore, I remark in the first 
place, that the name of Ethiopian literally signifies burnt- 
countenance, and was given by the Greeks to many people on 
account of their sun-burnt complexion.* But no term of 
similar import is found in the Hebrew Scriptures, and there 
the people whom the Greek interpreters have called A'lrAoirsc; — 
Ethiops, are uniformly styled Cushites, or the children of 
Cush.f We are to seek for the true origin of the Ethiopians 
then, in Cush the son of Ham-I This race first settled be- 
tween the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, in what the scriptures 
call the land of Shinar. Here Nimrod founded the first em- 
pire, and hence, went out Asher, also, who built Nineveh, 
and finally gave name to Assyria. It is with reference to this 
first location of the Cushites, or Ethiopians, probably, Moses 
has told us, that one of the rivers of Paradise, "compassed all 
the land of Ethiopia." 

They next seem to have wandered farther southward and 
to have settled that part of Arabia, which lies about the Per- 
sian gulf: and hence this region was also called Ethiopia, as 
when it is said of Moses in Midian that he married an Ethio- 
pian woman. But in process of time — according to the tes- 
timony of Josephus and Eusebius — they crossed the Red 
Sea — and established themselves in that part of Africa — south 
of Egypt and east of Lybia — which is now called Abysinia, 
or Ethiopia proper. || Here they long vexed the more north- 
ern Africans, and are supposed by many to have been those 
Shepherd kings, who once dethroned the Egyptian monarchs.§ 
Here the gospel found a portion of them in the fourth cen- 
tury — and here a remnant of them are to be found— under a 
very corrupt form of Christianity, at the present day. 

But there is reason for pursuing the migration of the Ethi- 
opians much farther than the bounds of Abysinia. The north- 



* See Edinburgh Rncyclopi'diti. Art. Abysinia. 

tSce Oriffnt'K Plra for Africa: from whir;l. wvor.-il ho\\ts aro acknowledged in the following 
argunmnt. 
} Soe Genesis x. 6. II ^-'^ B^"""'.- Diot. Bib. Art. CM. 

^ S<?e Josophu-s' Antii|. Ji«>, T.ili. I. rli. vi. 



ern extremity of Africa was settled by other sons of Ham*— 
but the great deserts of Lyhia and Sahara would for ages 
prevent their further migration southward — and it remained 
for the Ethiopians — still wandering and losing their tribes 
in the vast and fertile regions of the south — finally to give 
inhabitants tj all the rest of Africa. It is certain, according- 
ly, that in process of time, the whole continent took the name 
of Ethiopia. f 

To this locality accordingly, agree various scriptural allu- 
sions. Thus Isaiah exclaims— "VVo to the land, shadowing 
with wings : which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia"^ — and 
again, God says by the mouth of Zephaniah — "From beyond 
the rivers of Ethiopia, my supplicants — even the daughter of 
my dispersed, shall bring mine offering." || — If the Nile and 
its branches are meant, by these rivers of Ethiopia — it set- 
tles the location, to have been south or west of them, in rela- 
tion to Judea. Again, the prophet's question — "can the 
Ethiopian change his skin ?"§ — clearly refers to a people co- 
lored like the Africans — and finally our text has so coupled this 
country and Egypt, together, as could not well have been in- 
tended of any thing less than all Africa, when speaking of 
Messiah's latter-day kingdom. " Princes shall come out of 
Egypt: Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." 
We arrive at the conclusion, then, that, by the Ethiopia of our 
text, is to be understood all the southern continent of Afri- 
ca: the people, the interesting people, upon which the Holy 
Ghost deigned to fix the attention of the entranced prophet — 
in the midst of many other commanding objects — and to as- 
sure him that they should be set as another star in Messiah's 
crown in the latter-day — this people w^ere Africans, the inju- 
red Africans, for whose benefit we are attempting to excite 
the attention of our fellow men this evening. 

That we may do this the more successfully and give some- 
thing like a due elevation to this commanding theme, we 
proceed to urge several particular considerations. 

* See Gen. i. «, an.l Vi. 

tSte Rees' Encyc Art. Ethiopia. 

X Isaiah xviii. 1. || 7.'-pli. iii. in. (, J-m. xiu. 0.". 



1. And the first is, the character of that country and peo- 
ple/or ivhom these attentions are sought. Little as is yet 
known of it, we are perhaps warranted in saying, that there 
is no country on earth, which more commends itself to the 
attention of the philanthropist, than the continent of Africa. 
It is a country of great extent — reaching not less than four 
thousand miles into each point of the compass, and rich in the 
capacity of almost every production of the globe. But al- 
though thus vast and inviting, it is a continent of which little 
has yet been intimately known by the civilized world — a 
mere belt of surrounding light, comparing with the whole, 
like the rind to the body of an orange. The remainder how- 
ever, is not, like some of our western solitudes, "dark and 
wasteful," but filled for the most part, by a dense and varied 
population. Its inhabitants are variously estimated, at, from 
150 to 200 millions — speaking, it is said, 200 different lan- 
guages and dialects. These numerous nations are, with few 
exceptions, either Idolators or Mussulmen. and greatly pre- 
judiced, through the influence of the slave trade and other 
causes, against all direct intercourse with the rest of man- 
kind.* 

Here, then, is an object for philanthropic enterprize, in 
which the materials are all native, and afforded on the largest 
scale : To improve the mental capacities of these many mill- 
ions, and raise them to the condition of civilized and chris- 
tian men — to mould their governments and direct their com- 
merce — to redress, in this way, their wrongs, and remove their 
prejudices — to open their intercourse with other nations, and 
to introduce them to all the advantages and comforts of social 
existence — to do all this, and for such a continent as Africa, 
would indeed be worthy the ambition of a great and intelli- 
gent nation like our own : an enterprize worthy of our am- 
bition, friends and christian brethren, and one, which to labor 
in is an elevating privilege, however remote our success. 

And this is the proper place to say something of the Afri- 
can capacity for these high improvements — and the rather, 
on account of an objection to our enterprize, which has 

* See Morse's Gazetteer, art. Africa— nnd the late reports from the Col 
f»ny of Liberia. 



sometimes arisen from this quarter. By those, who are in- 
terested, or cruel enough to desire perhaps, that it were so, 
the intellectual capacity of the negro race, has long been 
called in question, and his most degraded state has been ap- 
pealed to, and his very bones subjected to measurement, to 
establish the unfeeling assumption. A French writer speaks 
of " the negroes as incapable of advancing a single step to- 
wards civilization, and destined to remain 20,000 centuries 
hence, what they have been 20,000 centuries already, the 
disgrace and misfortune of the human race."* 

To these weighty charges you will permit me to reply 
therefore, and at some length. And the first suggestion is, 
hoia little ive really knoiv of the true character of the Afri- 
can. For how and in what circumstances have we seen him .'' 
We have seen him enslaved, broken-hearted, crushed ; — or, 
at best, shut out from all aids and encouragement to mental 
elevation — by the influence of slavery, and the inconquer- 
able barrier of his relative situation. 

To know the negro as he is, we must look at him as he 
appears in the island of St. Domingo. There he will be seen 
the self-conscious freeman, the enterprising merchant, or in- 
dustrious planter — the able diplomatist and the accomplished 
man of letters. Some who have made this comparison, 
have told us of their astonishment, at the amount of differ- 
ence, it exhibited. They assure us that the distance is not 
more manifest between the Parisian Frenchman and the voy- 
ageur of the northern fur trade — than between the African 
enslaved or among white men, and a freeman on a congenial 
soil. 

But we appeal further, to facts : and facts will show that 
the negro mind has exhibited high attainments, and those of 
almost every department. 

Terrence, the accomplished writer of Latin comedy, was 
an African slave, and so was Lockman, surnamed in Arabia 
the wise^ and whose opinions are referred to for authority by 
Mahomet himself. In more modern times, we have equally 

* Barre St. Venajit, as quoted by Bishop Gregoire, p. 153. 



8 

listinguished examples. Kisla Aga, chief of the black eu- 
mchs in the court of the Grand Seignor, is mentioned in 
Furkish history, as " a man of great wisdom and profound 
knowledge." Hige-mondo, another African, was a distin- 
guished painter; Henry Diaz, a military commander of Bra- 
zil — Francis Williams, teacher of mathematics in Jamaica — 
Antony William Amo, who took the degree of Doctor in 
Philosophy in the University of Wurtemberg, were of the 
;ame race, and so were Dessalines and Louverture the con- 
querors of St. Domingo, with Gustavus Vasa, the Christian 
luthor, and our own Phillis Wheatley, M-hose poems have al- 
eady passed several editions, both in Europe and the United 
States.* 

But the African's skull has been measured ! — and it has 
3een found narrow, and receding! — Well, let it be measured. 
Phrenology is not yet sutiiciently established as a science, to 
3e extensively relied on ; but it has its uses perhaps, and one 
las been, as many think, to throw light on the origin of na- 
Hons. Dr. Madden has come to the conclusion, from the 
measurement of a great number of heads, in the mummy pits 
af upper Egypt, that the ancient inhabitants of that country 
i\'ere Nubians :f of course so far as phrenology is concerned, 
the Egyptians are very nearly allied to the present Ethiopi- 
ans. How will our skeptical antiquarians relish this ? Sup- 
pose it should appear in the end, that Thebes — the cradle of 
science and the arts, — which gave them to Greece, and to 
us — was originally peopled by a negro race ! 

But let us confine ourselves to what is better known. We 
have proved that, originally, the Africans were Cushites : — 
that the Cushites of Mesopotamia were renowned in wisdom, 
is the testimony of all history. Thence came Nimrod a mighty 
one of the south : — thence came Asher, the founder of the As- 
syrian Empire, and there arose, too, the Astronomers of Bab- 
ylon, the first who studied the sublime science of the heavens. 
This does not look like native incapacity in the Ethiopian 



* The above list has bopn drawn principally from ihp Appenilix to ths " I'lpa for Africa, •"' where 
the original authorities may be seen. 

tSee Madrten's Travels, vol. ii. p. 61. 



9 

race : these facts are not the index to a history of Baboons. 
No; the African is a man and a brother: long degraded, 
abused and trodden down as he has been ; he is still a man, 
a noble and immortal being, heaven-descended and aspiring 
as ourselves. We do not know him: we abuse both him and 
his Maker, if we rest in any other view. 

If this be admitted then, if the African is a man, and im- 
mortal, and is contemplated as such in the benevolent regai^ds 
of his Maker, it disposes of the objection to which we have 
been attending. But this wdll still further appear from our 
second general remark, to which I now invite you. 

2. The renovation of the African race, in the latter days, 
is a distinct subject of prophecy. This is not only implied 
in the general representation '■'• that all the earth shall be fill- 
ed with the knowledge of the Lord," but it is more specifi- 
cally taught in other passages, and particularly in those, which 
' relate to the glories of Messiah's kingdom. 

Thus it was predicted of Solomon's glory in the 7 2d Psalm, 
" the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts." Sheba and 
Seba were countries taking their names from the son and 
grandson of Cash:* and these are to bring their glory into 
Messiah's kingdom in the latter day. Solomon is universally 
admitted to have been a type of the Messiah, and although 
the Queen of the south commenced a literal fulfiling of this 
prophecy in her visit to that monarch, it w^ould be contrary 
to the scope of the wdiole Psalm, to confine it to such an in- 
terpretation. 

Again it is said, in a passage already quoted, "from be- 
yond the rivers of i^ iiiopia, my supplicants, the daughter ol 
my dispersed, shall bring my offering." This prediction is 
supposed by Dr. Scott to refer directly to the Africans, and 
by Poole, to the return of the Jews ; but even on the lattei 
supposition, it seems to secure our position, since the disper- 
sed Jew^s could hardly be gathered and bring their offering 
from this region, except in connection with the renovation o' 
other nations. But our text is btill more e.Nplicit. Here 



10 

Egypt and Ethiopia are represented sls stretching out their 
hands unto God. Stretching out the hands unto God, is 
obviously a metaphor for expressing a religious, or ivorship- 
ing people : and this is affirmed as pertaining to all Africa in 
the latter day. 

The Psalmist is looking to this. The prediction was not 
accomplished by the introduction of Christianity into Abysin- 
ia in the fourth century : no ! the prophet's eye is fixed on a 
far more extensive prospect. Africa, the negro race, shall 
)^et stretch out their sable hands to God ! 

And here is the place to consider another objection which 
bas often been urged on this subject. We have been told 
that the Africans are under the curse of Ham — that their col- 
or is an indication of this, and that to seek their renovation 
is to attempt recovering them from a providential malediction. 

It is not necessary to reply to the latter part of this assump- 
;ion. The varieties of human complexion are believed to be * 
5rincipally owing to climate, and of the correctness of this 
>pinion, the Jews alone are a sufficient proof, who are known 
o be of all colors, according to the country in which they 
ire found. But we deny the other assumption. The Ethi- 
opian branch of Ham's family never came under the curse ; 
t was confined to Canaan,* and was fulfiled when the de- 
cendants of Shem, brought under and destroyed that devo- 
ed race, in the time of Joshua. 

But should it be admitted that this malediction had fallen 
n other branches of the family, is it any where said that it 
hall be unending ? Are there no limits of time, beyond which 
varice and cruelty, under the hypocri.ical pretence of ful- 
ling the purposes of providence, shall not continue to wreak 
lis judgment on a devoted race ? Our text answers this 
uestion. Prophecy sees Africa redeemed : prophecy smites 
ff the chains from their weary wrists, and lifts them up in 
raise and prayer to God. 

3. Thirdly, our attention is strongly called to this people, 
1/ the character of the times, in which we live. No one, 



* See Gen. ix. 25, 26. 



11 

■ cai 



\ 



^vho seriously and intelligently studies passing events 
fail to be convinced, we. apprehend, that we are living at ai 
important era of the world's history. That era, in the opin 
ion of many, commenced a few years previous to the begin 
ning of the present century- Then — besides that mightj 
revolution, which shook all Europe, and which, according t( 
some modern commentators on prophecy, slew the witnesse 
and ended the 1260 years of Papal persecution— just then 
commenced that whole series of remarkable religious move 
ments, which has already effected, under Providence, to pu 
a new aspect on the face of christian society. The first o 
all the English Missionary Societies, was organized in 1792 
the British and Foreign Bible society followed in '95 an; 
the Sabbath School System had been brought into operatioi 
but a few years before. About the same time also, commen 
ced the remarkable series of modern out-pourings of th. 
Holy Spirit : — and now what have we already witnessed a 
the results of these united movements ? 

They have resulted in giving the means of education t< 
more than half a million of children, for whom no other ade 
quate aids to mental improvement existed : — they have trans 
lated the scriptures into more than fifty new languages an( 
dialects, and distributed them, freely as water, to aimos 
every nation under heaven : They have preached the ever 
lasting gospel to many millions of men, living before, in ut 
ter ignorance of its existence, and they have gathered 
through grace, we have no doubt, a glorious company of th( 
Redeemer's children, many of whom have already gone t( 
heaven. 

Nor is this all, which has been remarkable in our times 
The Jews have been more cared for, within the last thirt} 
years, than during all the anterior period since their disper 
sion. Education and other means of knowledge have beer 
far more generally diffused, while science and mechanical 
invention have been more assiduously applied to useful im- 
provements, and have effected already an almost entirie change 
in the facilities of intercourse and commerce. 



y 



12 

Nor must we omit here a notice of those political chaages 
hich have marked, and are still marking, the same period. 

The principles of civil and religious liberty, though ob- 
ructed for a season by a miglity reaction in some parts of 
urope, have been extending themselves in secret, and the 
)nvulsive struggles of Naples, and Spain and Piedmont, 
ive been but the natural Ijreaking out of these suppressed 
notions. In France they have at length been successful, 
id the world has been surprised with a Revolution, not 
ss distinguished by its moderation, than the reasonableness 
f its principles, and the extent and propitiousness of its in- 
uence. 

The Mahomedan power, in the mean time has experienced 
1 extensive diminution of its resources, and that in several 
ays. The Sultan has been, for the first time, conquered and 
umbled by the Russians: The province of Egypt has re- 
olted under yi/?' Pacha: Greece, another dependenc}^, has ^ 
btained her independence — and now the conquest of Algiers 
as broken the charm of Islamism, in another strong hold, and ^ 

pened all northern Africa to the influence of civilization. C^ f 

I know not how these things may present themselves to 
thers; but to me, 1 confess, they appear immensely interest- 
ig. 1 am no visionary observer of the signs of the times ; 
ut these events have come upon us in such a remarkable 
nd rapid succession: they have so seemed to correspond 
nih prophecy, and have in point of fact already wrought so 
lany favourable changes in the state of human society, as to 
Listify the hope, at least, that the world is approaching its final 
nd most glorious state. We do emphatically live in the last 
lays, and this is another reason for calling our attention to the 
lestinies of the African race. They are given to Christ, as 
ou have heard ; and his latter-day glory cannot be full, until 
heir gathering is effected. 

And here let me remind you of another remarkable fact : 
hat precisely at the commencement of the era, which has been 
nentioned, began also, the first decided movements in Provi- 
lence, towards the renovation of the Africans. The Revo- 



/ 



13 



lution in St. Doming'o commenceJ in 1791 — and the final es- 
tablishment of the English Colony at Sierra Leone was ef- 
fected in 179:3. 

It is remarkable, moreover, that within the same period, 
the most unwearied exertions have been made, for the aboli- 
tion of the slave trade, and that every civilized nation, except 
two, have now agreed to consider it as unlawful. 

Finally, it has been within the same period that the systen, 
of Colonization, for people of Color ^ has been devised ; and ii 
is in reference to this view, — the finalrenovation of Africa — 
that this interesting movement, has, as appears to me, its 
greatest importance. This Society wafi formed in the yeai 
1816 at the city of Washington, and by some of the first o: 
our great and good men from every portion of the Unitec 
States. They purposed it primarily as a system of relief foi 
two millions of fellow men in our own country — a populatior 
dangerous to ourselves and necessarily degraded here : bu 
their ultimate object was even greater than this, and the] 
extended their hopes to no less a consummation than the civ 
ilization and Christianity of a whole continent. 

And thus far this noble enterprise has decidedly prospered 
Experiencing as yet no patronage but that of charity and vol 
untary association, it has effected the establishment of a colo 
ny of more than 1700 blacks on the western shore of Africa 
who have already attained to all the advantages of a free an( 
civilized community. 

It would seem indeed that our general government must ul 
timately see the propriety of assuming this great enterprise 
but while they hesitate to do this, it is a satisfaction to know 
that the Colonization Society is sustained and yearly advan 
cing in the confidence of the community. It has now its aux 
iliaries in nearly every state of the union, and it is with n( 
small satisfaction, we are enabled to remark, that our owr 
state was among the first to render this example. Yes; ou] 
northern and disinterested Vermont, whose mountain airs the 
breath of a slave never tainted, has been among the first tc 



yield her patronage to the Colonization Society, and our sons 
and brothers, educated in our own halls of science, have sac- 
rificed their lives in the generous cause.* 

The renovation of Africa is begun therefore, and begun in 
connexion with a remarkable series of providential events. 
And it is this view of its relations — I repeat it — that gives 
principal importance to the Society, whose auxiliary I address 
this evening. The Colony is favorably located on the western 
coast of this continent : it already has the confidence, and 
possesses the coninierce of numerous tribes of the natives. 
Christian settlements have for some years been established at 
the southern extremity. The spirit of missions is again vis- 
iting the east ;f — recent conquests, as we have seen, have 
opened the north, and thus surrounded with a belt of light^ 
it does seem rational to hope, that the dark and unknown in- 
terior of this vast continent, is soon to be penetiated through 
the influence of these establishments. 

Here, then, we came to ask your favorable regards, this 
evening, for a Society commending itself by so many, and 
such interesting claims, as these. We ask it, you perceive 
for no ordinary object, and at no ordinary era in the history of 
the world. In aiding the Colonization Society, you are aiding 
a people long among the most renowried in history ; a people 
long forgotten and debased and trodden down, however; 
but a people destined, according to prophecy, to be raised 
and blessed again, and whose renovation, itwould seem, is 
already begun. ■-•*' 

I ask my fellow mortals then, how much they are willing 
to give to promote an enterprize like this ? I ask the states- 
man, who hates oppression, and rejoices in the extension of 
civil and religious liberty, how much he is willing to give 
towards rendering another nation free and independent? 
I ask the man of letters, who exults in the increase of the 
means of mental improvement, what he is willing to give, 



* Ashman, Andrtis, and Holton. 

t The English Missions, now established in Ahysinia. 



* 13 

that such as we enjoy, may be universally diffused ? — and 
I ask, above all, the Christian— the Christian, who glories 
in nothing so much as the honor of his Master — I ask what 
he will give to add another gem — to set " the topaz of Ethio- 
pia^'*'' in the crown of the Redeemer ? 

These motives perhaps would be sufficient — and yet, that 
we may leave no appeal untried on such a subject as this, I 
will ask you to look again and more directly at the object, 
which is before yon. The Holy Ghost did not refuse to look 
down on the latter-day history of Africa, and why, Christian 
friends, should we? Yonder is a continent teeming with 
uncounted millions of inhabitants, and now stretching out 
its hands, for the first time, in prayer and praise to God. 
Already its idols are abolished : already its laws and customs 
are changed, and the energies of its children are turned to 
more rational pursuits. The majestic Nile, and Congo, and 
Niger, bear the rich burdens of commerce : their banks are 
glittering with cities, or waving with the yellow harvests. On 
the mountain-side the shepherd unfolds his flock : in the 
meadow, the cheerful laborer plies his plough, or sings at night 
in his love-blessed habitation. The temples of science and 
religion rise : knowledge is diffused — the sabbaths of the 
Lord are kept: peace, joy and gratitude, beam in every face, 
and declare that the negro-race is blessed : The year of 
Jubilee is come ! 

The vision is before us, and it is sure. Yes ; it will come ; 
but the consummation is not yet : and while it tarries, avarice 
and cruelty are still pouring unmitigated woes upon this de- 
voted race. 

And now a change comes over me, and another and far dif- 
ferent vision is seen. I behold a village trampled by contend- 
ing foes, and wrapped in flames. The strife has closed, and 
the dark jobbers, in human flesh, who have been successful, 
are dragging away their devoted victims to their doom. Look, 
look on that manacled form, who now bleeds, and droops, and 
shudders, amidst these unimaginable woes. No wonder that 
he droops and shudders : nor is it strange, if amidst the sick- 



16 * 

enings of his soul for a doom like this, he seek the only re- 
lief, which his wild faith suggests to him, in suicide and des- 
pair. 

" Alas he stials him from his loathsome shi'-d, 

" What time moist miilnight blows its venom'd breath, 

" And musing how hn long has toilM and blod — 

" Drinks tho <lirc balsam of conisoling dpalh. 

" fLi-:to, l.;i-i.- yo winds: on swifter pinions fly ; 
" Kro IV. nil this world of mispry he go — 
" Tell him liis wrongs bedew a nation's fyp: 
" 'IVll him Columbia blushes for his woe. 

" !*ay, that iu future, Negroes shall be blest : — 
" Blessed even as men — and men's just rights enjoy ; 
" Be neither sold, nor famish'd, nor oppress'd : — 
" No stripes shall wither, and no griefs destroy. 

"f!ay that fair freedom bends her holy flight, 
" To raise the offspring, and to cheer the sire : — 
"So shall he, wandering, prove, at last, dnlight, 
" And in a throb of ecstasy expire." 

Oh give, with this double vision before you, friends and 
hearers ! Give as you would wish others to give, were yours 
the fate of the Africans ! give thus, and no stinted recom- 
pence will rejoice our labors this evening. — Amen ! 



NOTE. 

Suggestion. — It appears fi-om the late reports of the A. C. Society, that 
about .$20 is considered sufficient for transporting an emigrant from this 
country to Liberia, Twenty dollars iveightd against a life of competency and 
independence ! Will not some patriot — some friend to the negro race, be 
induced to raise this sum for so great and truly benevolent an object ? 

It is suggested also, that much good might result from reading and dis- 
tributing the publications on this subject, to the free people of color 
among ourselves. 



LEJa'12 



